Reclining chair mechanism

ABSTRACT

A MECHANISM FOR USE IN A RECLINING CHAIR FOR SELECTIVELY DISPOSING THE CHAIR SEAT AND BACK IN A CHAIR-FORMING UP RIGHT POSITION, A READING, OR TELEVISION VIEWING, INTERMEDIATE POSITION, AND AN EXTREME, OR FULL, RECLINING POSITION. THE CHAIR INCLUDES LEG REST MEANS WHICH IS RETRACTED IN THE UPRIGHT POSITION AND ELEVATED TO SUPPORT THE OCCUPANT&#39;&#39;S LEGS IN EACH OF THE INTERMEDIATE AND FULL RECLINING POSITIONS.

Jan. 25, 1971 N- W. MIZELLE RECLINING CHAIR MECHANISM 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Sept. 10, 1968 I NV ENTC DR NED W M/ZELLE 57455 55 5 QZMQMMMWM;

ATTORNEYS Jam 26, 1971 I w, I E 3,558,185

RECLINING CHAIR MECHANISM 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Sept. 10, 1968 United States Patent 3,558,185 RECLINING CHAIR MECHANISM Ned W. Mizelle, High Point, N.C., assignor to General Steel Products, Inc., a corporation of North Carolina Filed Sept. 10, 1968, Ser. No. 758,843 Int. Cl. A47c 1/034 US. Cl. 29784 14 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A mechanism for use in a reclining chair for selectively disposing the chair seat and back in a chair-forming upright position, a reading, or television viewing, intermediate position, and an extreme, or full, reclining position. The chair includes leg rest means which is retracted in the upright position and elevated to support the occupants legs in each of the intermediate and full reclining positrons.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field of the invention This invention relates to adjustable support mechanisms and in particular to such mechanisms adapted for use in multi-position reclining chairs.

Description of the prior art In conventional three position reclining chairs, support mechansims are provided to arrange the chair in three preselected arrangements to support the occupant selectively in an upright position, a semi-recumbent position, or a substantially recumbent position. In such chairs, the mech anisms provide selective disposition of the chair set, back and an associated leg rest suitably for such selective support of the occupant.

In one improved form of such a three position reclining chair mechanism, the legs rest and chair back are cooperatively associated with the seat support by linkage means providing the desired selective arrangement of the chair elements as discussed above. In such known mechanism, however, the linkage structures are relatively complex and, thus, expensive.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention comprehends an improved three position reclining chair mechanism having simplified economical construction, thereby eliminating the above discussed disadvantages of such known chair mechanisms, while yet providing highly desirable facilitated adjustable positioning of the leg rest, chair seat and chair back.

More specifically, the mechanism of the present invention provides an improved mechanical control of the chair members to effectively maintain the upright postion of the chair back relative to the seat while the leg rest is elevated and extended relative to the seat during movement from upright position to intermediate position. and to maintain the leg rest elevated and extended relative to the seat while the back reclines relative to the seat during adjustment of the chair from the intermediate to the reclining position.

The present mechanism provides this improved functioning by means of a novel cooperative association of an improved control linkage means with mechanism elements movably supporting the leg rest, seat and chair back. More specifically, the control linkage means includes a novel arrangement of supporting links including a cam link for controlling the selective disposition of the mechanism elements. In the disclosed preferred embodiment, the cam structure functions to retain the seat against forward displacement during movement of the rear portion thereof between the intermediate and reclining positions, and thus prevents the leg rest from dropping and retract- "ice ing during such movements. It also limits upward displacement of the rear portion of the seat during movement from inermediate to reclining position. The cam structure further is arranged to permit unrestricted forward movement of the seat from the intermediate position to the chair-forming upright position and concurrent retraction of the leg rest means. The control linkage portion of the mechanism further cooperates with the means for supporting the leg rest to provide a generally maintained horizontal disposition of the chair seat while moving upwardly from the intermediate position to the reclining position while the chair back is swung to a substantially horizontal arrangement.

The present mechanism further provides a control of the leg rest. disposition so as to maintain the leg rest substantially fixed relative to the front of the seat in each of the intermediate and reclining positions.

The present mechanism provides the improved functioning discussed above in an extremely simple manner with the chair elements being elfectively balanced in the different positions, while yet permitting ready operation of the mechanism for selective dispositioning of the chair elements.

Thus, it is a principal object of the present invention to provide an improved reclining chair mechanism.

Another object of the invention is to provide such a reclining chair mechanism of simple and economic construction while yet providing facilitated selective adjustment of the chair elements.

A further object of the invention is to provide such a reclining chair mechanism providing improved control of the movement of the chair elements to the respective selective positions.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS frame, in an intermediate position; and

FIG. 3 is a view similar to FIG. 2 with the mechanism in full reclining position.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT In the exemplary embodiment of the invention as disclosed in the drawings, a reclining chair, generally designated 10, is shown to comprise a base, gene-rally designated 11, including side rails 12, back bars 13 and 14, a forward cross member 15, and floor supports comprising a pair of front caster legs 16 and rear downturned legs 17. The upper portion of the chair includes arm front posts 18 and tops 19, and a back frame 20. To facilitate understanding of the invention, the seat member of the chair is omitted from the drawings, and the back frame is shown only in FIG. 1.

A pair of right and left hand recliner mechanisms are mounted on the side rails 12, and only one such mechanism is illustrated. It includes a mounting plate 21 which is screwed to the side rail, and a seat mounting bracket 22, a back mounting bracket 23 and a leg rest bracket 24, all are carried on the plate 21 by linkage means, indicated general-1y at 2-5, which is the subject of the present invention. The chair seat may be any conventional unit, such as an upholstered inner spring cushion, which is secured to the seat mounting bracket 22. and a leg rest frame 26 is mounted on the leg rest bracket 24.

Brackets 22, 23 and 24 are selectively disposed to provide three different positions of the chair 10, including the chair-forming position of FIG. 1; the intermediate position of FIG. 2 in which the seat bracket 22 is moved rearwardly and tilted down in the rear, the leg rest bracket 24 is elevated, and the back bracket 23 and seat bracket 22 maintain the same angular relationship as in the position of FIG. 1; and the full reclining position of FIG. 3 in which the rear of the seat is raised somewhat from the intermediate position and the chair back is disposed substantially horizontally in alignment with the leg rest 25 and the seat.

More specifically, the seat mounting bracket 22 includes a front portion 29 and a rear portion 30. The leg rest mounting bracket 24 is swingably carried on the seat mounting bracket front portion 29 by a forward carrying means, generally designated 31. Theback mounting bracket 23 is swingably carried by rearward carrying means, generally designated 32, carried on the rear portion 30 of the seat mounting bracket 22 and on the base mounting plate 21. Linkage means 25 further includes a control linkage means, generally designated 33, carried on the base mounting plate 21 and connected to forward carrying means 31 and the seat mounting bracket 22 for controlling the movement of the brackets and forward and rearward carrying means to provide the desired selective positioning of the chair elements as discussed above.

In the chair-forming upright position of the chair 10, as shown in FIG. 1, the forward carrying means 31 is arranged to dispose the leg rest bracket 24 in a retracted position. As shown, carrying means 31 includes a first link 34, a second, long link 35, an extension arm 36 and a bell crank 37. The carrying means 31 effectively defines a lazy tongs arrangement wherein long link 35 and extension arm 36 are pivotally connected intermediate their ends by a pivot 38. The long link 35 is pivotally connected at 39 to the bracket 24 and at 40 to the bell crank 37. Link 34 is pivotally connected at 41 to a mid-portion of bracket 24 and at 42 to the lower end of the extension arm 36. The upper end of the extension arm 36 is pivoted at 43 on the forward end of the chair seat mounting bracket 22. The bell crank 37 is pivoted at 44 on the chair seat mounting bracket 22 rearwardly of pivot 43.

In the retracted position of FIG. 1, a shoulder portion 45 of extension arm 36 rearwardly of pivot 38 abuts a confronting shoulder portion 46 of the bell crank 37 to provide a positive limit to the rearward movement of the carrying means 31.

Referring to FIG. 2, the forward carrying means 31 is arranged to swing the leg rest 24 forwardly and upwardly from the retracted position of FIG. 1 by a clockwise swinging of the extension arm 36 and bell crank 37 on pivots 43 and 44. In the intermediate position illustrated in FIG. 2, bell crank portion 46 abuts a second shoulder portion 47 of extension arm 36 to limit the clockwise swinging movement thereof.

Referring again to FIG. 1, in the chair-forming upright position, the rearward carrying means 32 disposes the back mounting bracket 23 in a generally horizontal position. More specifically, carrying means 32 includes a pivot 48 connecting the forward end of the bracket 23 to an upstanding portion 49 on the rear end of the seat mounting bracket 22, and a link 50 pivotally connected at 51 to the back mounting bracket 23 and at 52 to the base mounting plate 21. Thus, as seen in FIG. 2, when the seat mounting bracket 22 is moved rearwardly and downwardly to the intermediate position from the upright position of FIG. 1, the carrying means 32 moves the back mounting bracket 23 correspondingly rearwardly and downwardly to maintain a substantially identical relationship between the brackets 22 and 23 in both positions. As shown in FIG. 3, in the full reclining position, the seat mounting bracket 22 is displaced upwardly from the intermediate position of FIG. 2 so that pivot 48 is displaced upwardly from its intermediate position, thereby swinging the bracket 23 about the pivot 51 to dispose the chair back in a full reclining disposition generally aligned with the chair seat.

As briefly indicated above, the control of the movement of carrying means 31 and 32 is effected by the control linkage means 33. As shown, the control linkage means includes a first member comprising a forward bell crank 53 having its fulcrum pivoted at 54 on the base mounting plate 21, pivoted at 55 to the fulcrum of hell crank 37 of the forward carrying means 31, and pivoted at 56 to one end of a short connecting link 57. A second member comprising a rear control lever 58 is pivotally mounted intermediate its ends at 59 on the base mounting plate 21 and is pivotally connected at one end by pivot 59 to the other end of connecting link 57. A rear link comprising a cam link 60 is pivotally connected at one end by a pivot 61 to the rear portion 30 of the seat mounting bracket 22 and its mid-portion is pivotally connected by a pivot 62 to the rear end of the rear control lever 58.

The lower rear surface 63 of the cam link 60 defines a rearwardly facing arcuate cam surface terminating at its lower end in a turned stop portion 64. At the upper end of the cam surface 63, the cam link 60 is provided with a rearwardly open notch 65. In the chair-forming upright position of the linkage means 25, a cam guide stud 66 carried on base mounting plate 21 is engaged by notch 65 to provide a disengageable, pivotal restrictive connection. When the linkage means 25 is repositioned to the intermediate position of FIG. 2, the rearward and downward movement of the seat mounting bracket 22 pivots the cam link 60 in a clockwise direction about the pivot 62 on lever 58 to cause the notch 65 to be disengaged from the stud 66 as seen in FIG. 2. The cam link 60 may then be moved upwardly from the intermediate disposition, as shown in FIG. 2, to the full reclining position, as shown in FIG. 3. During this movement, the cam surface 63 may slidably bear against the stud 66 to prevent forward movement of the seat mounting bracket 22 and thereby guide the seat mounting bracket and back mounting bracket 23 to the elevated arrangement of FIG. 3. As shown in FIG. 3, the stud 66 engages the stop shoulder portion 64 of the cam surface 63 at the full reclining position of the mechanism to limit further upward movement of the seat mounting bracket 22 and thus retain the chair mechanism in the extreme, or full, reclining position wherein the occupant of the chair 10 is effectively recumbent. In the full reclining position of FIG. 3, the forward carrying means 31 substantially maintains the relative relationship of the leg rest bracket 24 and the seat mounting bracket 22 as obtained in the intermediate position of FIG. 2. As illustrated, a slight displacement of the leg rest may occur.

By successive reference to the FIGS. 1, 2 and 3, it may be noted that in moving from the upright position of FIG. 1 to the intermediate position of FIG. 2, the control linkage means 33 remains substantially stationary except for the clockwise pivoting of cam link 60. The resultant rearward and downward movement of the seat mounting bracket 22 produces the desired upward swinging movement of the leg rest bracket 24 as the fulcrum pivot 55 is effectively fixed while the pivots 43 and 44 are moved rearwardly to operate the carrying means in a lazy tongs manner. In moving from the intermediate position of FIG. 2 to the fully reclining position of FIG. 3, the fulcrum pivot 55 moves upwardly with the front portion 29 of the seat mounting bracket 22 so that the front carrying means 31 remains substantially in the same arrangement.

In moving from the intermediate position of FIG. 2 to the full reclining position of FIG. 3, the control linkage means 33 is substantially rearranged to provide the above discussed upward displacement of the seat mounting bracket 22. Thus, the forward bell crank 53 is pivoted in a clockwise manner, as seen in FIG. 3, about the pivot 54 to provide the upward displacement of pivot 55 and the rear control lever 58 is pivoted in a counterclockwise direction about the pivot 59 to permit the upward displacement of the pivot 61 of the rear portion 30 of the seat mounting bracket 22. The cam link 60 swings slightly clockwise on the pivot 62 during this movement.

Thus, the linkage means provides controlled selective positioning of the chair 10 in the upright, intermediate and full reclining positions. The user may effect a repositioning of the chair from the upright position to the intermediate position by simple rearward thrust on the chair back whereby the resultant rearward movement of seat mounting bracket 22 causes the leg rest bracket 24 to be swung to the leg supporting position of FIG. 2 as discussed above. In the intermediate position, the chair 10 is suitably arranged for activities such as reading, television viewing, and the like because the angular relationship between the seat and the back is substantially the same as in upright position. To move the chair to the full reclining position, the user need merely provide a further rearward thrust on the chair back while removing pressure from the lowermost portion of the chair seat, permitting the rear portion of the seat mounting bracket 22 to be raised and concurrently operate the control linkage means 33 to elevate the front portion 29 of the seat mounting bracket. To restore the chair to the intermediate position from the full reclining position, the user need merely press down on the rear portion of the seat thereby urging the cam link '60 downwardly and the pivot 62 correspondingly downwardly to lower the pivot whereby the seat is lowered and the chair back swung upwardly on the bracket 23. During this movement the engagement between the cam surface 63 and the stud 66 prevents forward swinging of the seat mounting bracket which would permit the leg rest to collapse before reaching intermediate position. In moving from the intermediate position to the upright position, the user need merely urge the seat forwardly while urging the leg rest downwardly, with the resultant forward movement of the seat mounting bracket 22 swinging the back mounting bracket 23 forwardly and thereby returning the chair back to the upright position.

The foregoing detailed description is given for clearness of understanding only, and no unnecesary limitations are to be understood therefrom, as modifications will be obvious to those skilled in the art.

I claim:

'1. In a three position reclining chair mechanism, in combination.

a base;

a seat mounting bracket having a front portion and a rear portion;

a back mounting bracket;

a leg rest bracket;

forward means swingably carrying said leg rest bracket on said front portion of said seat mounting bracket;

rearward means swingably connecting said back mounting bracket to said rear portion of said seat mounting bracket and said base; and

control linkage means including a bell crank pivotally carried at its fulcrum on said base and having a front arm and a rear arm, a lever pivoted on said base intermediate its ends and rearwardly of the bell crank, a connecting link pivotally connected to the rear arm of the bell crank and to the front of the lever, means pivotally connecting said front arm of the bell crank to said forward means at a position spaced below said seat mounting bracket, a cam link pivotally suspended from said rear portion of said seat mounting bracket and pivotally connected to the rear end of said lever at a position spaced below said seat mounting bracket, said control linkage means cooperating with said forward means and said rearward means to selectively dispose (a) said seat mounting bracket in a forward, lowermost seating position with said leg rest mounting bracket disposed in a lowermost, retracted position and said back mounting bracket in a forwardmost seating :position, (b) said seat mouting bracket in a rearwardly lowered intermediate position with said leg rest mounting bracket disposed in an elevated, leg support position and said back mounting bracket and seat mounting bracket in substantially unchanged positions relative to one another, said bell crank and lever being substantially similarly disposed in each of said seating and intermediate positions, and (c) said seat mounting bracket in a substantially vertically raised reclining position with said leg rest mounting bracket disposed in an elevated leg supporting position, and said back mounting bracket in an extreme pivotally lowered reclining position, with said bell crank and lever being disposed in an upwardly pivoted disposition to provide the raised disposition of said seat mounting bracket without substantial fore-and-aft translation of said seat mounting bracket from said intermediate position.

2. The reclining chair mechanism of claim 1 wherein said seat mounting bracket rear portion is raised in moving from said intermediate position to said reclining position, and said cam link and base are provided with cooperating shoulder means abutting when said seat mounting bracket is in said reclining position to limit the upward movement of said seat mounting bracket rear portion.

3. The reclining chair mechanism of claim 1 wherein said cam link is provided with a cam surface and said base is provided with a guide, said cam surface riding against said guide when said seat mounting bracket is being moved between its intermediate and reclining positions to substantially preclude forward movement of said seat mounting bracket during said movements.

4. The reclining chair mechanism of claim 1 wherein said cam link is provided with a recess and said base is provided with a guide, said guide being received in said recess when said seat mounting bracket is disposed in said forward seating position.

'5. In a three position reclining chair mechanism, in combination:

a base;

a seat mounting bracket having a front portion and a rear portion; a back mounting bracket; a leg rest bracket; forward means swingably carrying said leg rest bracket on said front portion of said seat mounting bracket;

rearward means swingably connecting said back mount ing bracket to said rear portion of said seat mounting bracket and said base; and

control linkage means including a first member pivotal- 'ly carried on said base, a second member pivotally carried on said base, means swingably connecting said first and second members, means pivotally connecting said first member to said forward means at a position spaced below said seat mounting bracket, rear link means comprising a cam link pivotally suspended from the rear portion of the seat mounting bracket, means pivotally connecting said cam link to said second member below said seat mounting bracket, a curved, rearwardly facing cam surface that extends downwardly from the pivotal connection of said cam link with the second member, a notch in the cam surface immediately adjacent said last named pivotal connection, and a stud on the base which said notch engages, said control linkage means cooperating with said forward means and to said rearward means to selectively dispose (a) said seat mounting bracket in a forward, lowermost seating position with said leg rest mounting bracket disposed in a lowermost, retracted position and said back mounting bracket in a forwardmost seating position, and with said notch engaged with said stud, (b) said seat mounting bracket in a rearwardly lowered intermediate position with said leg rest mounting bracket disposed in an elevated, leg support position and said back mounting bracket and seat mounting bracket in substantially unchanged positions relative to one another, and with said notch disengaged from said stud, said first and second members being substantially similarly disposed in each of said seating and intermediate positions, and (c) said seat mounting bracket in a substantially vertically raised reclining position with said leg rest mounting bracket disposed in an elevated leg supporting position, and said back mounting bracket in an extreme pivotally lowered reclining position, with said first and second members being disposed in an upwardly pivoted disposition to provide the raised disposition of said seat mounting bracket without substantial fore-and-aft translation of said seat mounting bracket from said intermediate position, said cam surface riding along said stud during movement from intermediate position to reclining position.

6. The reclining chair mechanism of claim in which the lower end of the cam surface is turned sharply rearwardly to provide a shoulder which engages the stud to limit upward movement of the cam link.

7. In a three position reclining chair mechanism, in combination:

a base;

a seat mounting bracket having a front portion and a rear portion; a back mounting bracket; a leg rest bracket; forward means swingably carrying said leg rest bracket on said front portion of said seat mounting bracket;

rearward means swingably connecting said back mounting bracket to said rear portion of said seat mounting bracket and said base; and

control linkage means pivotally mounted on said base 'and operatively connected to said forward means and to the rear portion of said seat mounting bracket to selectively dispose (a) said seat mounting bracket in a forward, lowermost seating position with said leg rest mounting bracket disposed in a lowermost, retracted position and said back mounting bracket in a forwardmost seating position, (b) said seat mounting bracket in a rearwardly lowered intermediate position with said leg rest mounting bracket disposed in an elevated, leg support position and said back mounting bracket and seat mounting bracket in substantially unchanged positions relative to one another, and (c) said seat mounting bracket in a substantially vertically raised reclining position with said leg rest mounting bracket disposed in an elevated leg supporting position, and said back mounting bracket in an extreme pivotally lowered reclining position, said control linkage means including a cam link which is pivotally suspended from the rear portion of the seat mounting bracket and has a pivotal connection with a forwardly extending component of said control linkage means, said cam link having a curved, rearwardly facing cam surface that extends downwardly from said pivotal connection, and there being a stud on said base that is engaged by said cam surface during movements between intermediate position and reclining position to guide the seat bracket during such movements and prevent it from swinging forward.

8. The reclining chair mechanism of claim 7 in which the cam link includes a notch at the upper end of the cam surface immediately below said pivotal connection, said notch being engaged with said stud in seating position and disengaging from the stud during movement to intermediate position.

9. The reclining chair mechanism of claim 7 in which the lower end of the cam surface is turned sharply rearwardly to provide a shoulder which engages the stud to limit upward movement of the cam link.

10. The reclining chair mechanism of claim 8 in which the lower end of the cam surface is turned sharply rearwardly to provide a shoulder which engages the stud to limit upward movement of the cam link.

11. In a three position reclining chair mechanism, in combination:

a base;

a seat mounting bracket having a front portion and a rear portion; a back mounting bracket; a leg rest bracket; forward means swingably carrying said leg rest bracket on said front portion of said seat mounting bracket;

rearward means swingably connecting said back mounting bracket to said rear portion of said seat mounting bracket and said base; and

control linkage means including a first member pivotally carried on said base, a second member pivotally carried on said base, means swingably connecting said first and second members, means pivotally connecting said first member to said forward means at a position spaced below said seat mounting bracket, rear link means comprising a cam link pivotally suspended from the rear portion of the seat mounting bracket, means pivotally connecting said cam link to said second member below said seat mounting bracket, and a disengageable pivotal restrictive connection between the cam link and the base immediately adjacent said last named pivotal connection, said control linkage means cooperating with said forward means and said rearward means to selectively dispose (a) said seat mounting bracket in a forward, lowermost seating position with said leg rest mounting bracket disposed in a lowermost, retracted position and said back mounting bracket in a forwardmost seating position, and with said pivotal restrictive connection engaged, (b) said seat mounting bracket in a rearwardly lowered intermediate position with said leg rest mounting bracket disposed in an elevated, leg support position and said back mounting bracket and seat mounting bracket in substantially unchanged positions relative to one another, and with said pivotal restrictive connection disengaged to free the cam link for upward movement relative to the base, said first and second members being substantially similarly disposed in each of said seating and intermediate position, and (c) said seat mounting bracket in a substantially vertically raised reclining position with said leg rest mounting bracket disposed in an elevated leg supporting position, and said back mounting bracket in an extreme pivotally lowered reclining position, with said first and second members being disposed in an upwardly pivoted disposition to provide the raised disposition of said seat mounting bracket without substantial fore-and-aft translation of said seat mounting bracket from said intermediate position.

12. The reclining chair mechanism of claim 11 in which the cam link includes an extension below its pivotal restrictive connection defining a curved cam surface that bears on a portion of the base during movement from intermediate position to reclining position.

13. The reclining chair mechanism of claim 12 in which the lower end of the extension provides a shoulder which engages said portion of the base to limit upward movement of the cam link.

14. The reclining chair mechanism of claim 11 in which the cam link has an extension below its pivotal restrictive connection, and said extension includes a shoulder which engages a portion of the base in reclining position to limit upward movement of the cam link.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,043,621 7/1962 Fletcher 297 3,069,201 12/1962 Belisle et al. 29785 3,243,226 3/1966 Katz 29785 3,339,972 9/1967 Fletcher 297-83 3,363,942 1/1968 Fletcher 29784X 3,433,527 3/1969 R 29785 JAMES T. McCALL, Primary Examiner 

